44. Avery
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Avery
Miners’ Day is a time where most people in town get to relax and have a good time. At its core, it’s a celebration of the mining culture that started this town.
At a more surface level, it’s a town fair with a parade, mining-themed competitions, and booths selling everything from jewelry to delicious food.
I’ve spent the majority of my day at the booth where Hadley is talking to the people of Aspen Springs about the things that matter to them. With each person she talks to, I can see how deeply she wants to do what’s best for the residents of this place.
I desperately hope we can get the votes to make her dream a reality. I want that for her and for the whole town.
With any spare time, I’ve run over to the booth on a different side street where the Kingston family is giving out free books to all the kids in town. I guess they’ve done this for years as a part of their afterschool program.
It’s easy to forget how wealthy they all are. None of them act in a way that would indicate how loaded their bank accounts are. The way they help this community doesn’t go unnoticed, though.
They are the main sponsor behind Hadley’s campaign. I didn’t know how I felt about this in the beginning, but they all assured me they would have been backing her whether I was involved or not. That, I believed.
“Are you going to the dance tonight?” Hadley asks me when the group of people we had been chatting with walks away.
“I think so.” The plan is for Lyla to spend the night with her grandparents so the guys and I can go out. “Are you and your gaggle of men coming?”
She doesn’t even get to answer before Austin wraps his arms around her from behind. “Yes,” he says as she yelps. “We’re going.”
She grins at him. “Oh yeah?”
“I think you should wear that white dress again,” he says.
I know I’m missing something here, but I love how much he loves her. It is blatantly obvious how much all her men love her.
Austin lifts his head, looking at me. “I’ll stay with her for a while if you want to go explore with your family.”
Warmth blooms in my chest. It might be new, but the Kingstons are every bit my family.
“Alright,” I say, standing from the uncomfortable folding chair. “I’ll be back later to help take all of this down.” I gesture to everything we have set up.
It only takes me a few minutes to wind my way through the groups of people to get to the other booth. I smile, watching Lyla dance to the Taylor Swift song playing over the loudspeakers.
Owen is standing at the edge of the booth, so I slide in next to him.
Without even glancing at me or breaking his conversation with his dad, he wraps his arm around me. When there’s a lull in their conversation he leans down and gives me a quick kiss.
Shana is talking to a woman who seems to be about her age on the opposite side of the pop-up tent. Her eyes light up when she sees me sitting there. “Oh, honey, you’re back. Come here.”
Giving Owen’s waist one last squeeze, I walk to his mom.
“This is the lovely lady I was telling you about,” Shana tells the other woman. “Avery, this is Ellen Sanders. She’s the dean at the community college here in town.”
“Oh, hi. Nice to meet you,” I say, holding my hand out in her direction.
Her handshake is firm. I can assume she’s had to have a no-bullshit attitude to get to this point in her career. It’s impressive.
“Nice to meet you, Avery. Shana told me you just graduated with your master’s in political science.”
“Yeah, I did.”
She smiles. “Have you ever thought about teaching in that field?”
I’m slightly taken aback by the question. “Not really, but I’ve recently discovered that a lot of what I wanted career-wise doesn’t match who I am anymore.”
Her smile only broadens. “Well… it just so happens that my political science professor decided at the last minute to retire instead of teaching this year.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I say.
“He will be greatly missed, but I know this is what’s best for him,” she says. It’s obvious she cares about the people who work for her. “Do you think it’s a position you might be interested in?’
Oh…
I really shouldn’t be surprised by her question based on the trajectory of this conversation, but it still takes me a little off guard.
I take a second to think about it. “I need to talk to my family.”
I gesture behind me to where my three guys are standing shoulder to shoulder. They’re trying not to stare right at us but watching protectively all the same.
I turn back to face Ellen. “But… I really think it might be.”
Now that I say it, I’m pretty sure I’m thrilled about the idea.
“Wonderful. Take the time you need this weekend to think about it. If you’re still interested come Monday, send me an email with your resume and some references.”
A surge of hope rushes through me. “I’ll do that.”
She shakes my hand, gives Shana a quick hug, and walks away.
Before I can even fully turn around, Miles lifts me off the ground. “Did she just say what I think she did?”
I’m laughing too hard to answer him until he sets me on my feet. “Yeah, I think so.”
Finally, the band switches to a slower song. My body sags against Owen, my head resting against his chest.
My skin feels damp from several hours of dancing nonstop. Every time I go to take a sip of my drink at the table, one of them inevitably pulls me back out here.
Benny’s Tavern is packed tonight. The guys said it isn’t normally this busy, but there’s a live band playing because of Miners’ Day.
Hadley and her men were here earlier, but they dipped out pretty quickly. If the blush on her cheeks was anything to go by, I’m certain I know exactly what the rest of their evening will consist of.
Owen leans down so I can hear him over all the noise surrounding us. “Are you getting tired?”
I sigh. “Yes.”
He shifts, so he’s holding my hand. “Let’s go home.”
I follow behind him as he walks toward the table where his brothers are sitting.
“Ready to go?” Will asks.
I nod, feeling the long day settling over me.
Miles runs over to settle our tab while the rest of us start making our way out to Owen’s truck, parked a few blocks away.
On the way home, I start to fall asleep on Will’s shoulder in the backseat. He doesn’t even let my feet touch the ground when we get back to the house before he sweeps me into his arms and carries me upstairs.
Instead of carrying me into one of their bedrooms, he walks into the primary bedroom. I agreed to move into the house with them, but I haven’t actually done any of the moving quite yet.
In the place where a bed would normally sit, there are a ton of blankets arranged in a gigantic rectangle.
It might be a pad on the floor, but it looks fluffy and divine. I want nothing more than to cuddle into it and let sleep claim me.
“You need to pick out some furniture so we can order it,” Miles says as Will sets me on my feet.
“You guys don’t need to buy my stuff,” I grumble.
“But we’re going to anyway,” Miles says, leaning in to kiss my cheek.
My mouth goes dry as all three of them start stripping out of their clothes. I’ve seen them naked countless times, but I’ll never get tired of seeing their miles of smooth skin and toned muscles.
Owen stands before me in only his tight pair of black boxers. He helps me peel off my clothes until I’m just in my simple gray panties.
I’m too exhausted to do anything more tonight, but a flutter of need still hits me.
Will steps in behind me, pulling one of his old T-shirts over my head.
I peek at him over my shoulder as I slide my arms through the sleeves. “Thank you.”
“Of course, rebel.”
We all brush our teeth, then fall into the comfort of the bed they made on the floor. I’m sandwiched between Owen and Miles with my hand held tight in Will’s, who is lying beside Owen.
“Please pick some furniture and move all of your stuff in,” Owen says. There’s a vulnerability to his voice that tugs at my heart. “If you really need more time with your own space, we’ll respect that. We just want you here under the same roof with us.”
“We want you here all the time, for the good stuff… and the bad stuff, too,” Miles says from behind me.
“Okay. We can do it tomorrow,” I say. I know this is where I belong, and I don’t want to wait anymore.
I don’t really know why I’ve held out for this long, other than it’s what seemed like I should be doing. I don’t care anymore, though.
This is what I want, what we all want.
“Good,” Owen says, fully settling his head against the pillow.
“We need to buy one of those huge beds that Hadley and her guys have,” Miles says.
A king-size bed isn’t going to cut it if we’re all going to be sleeping in it sometimes.
“I’ll ask her where they got it,” I say, biting my lip. I can only imagine all the dirty, dirty sex we’re going to have in that bed.
Everything is quiet for a minute. I think they all might be asleep, or at least close to it.
“Baby.” Will’s voice tickles my ear from my almost-asleep state.
“Yeah,” I whisper because it feels like I need to do that now.
“Is that job really something you’d want to do?”
The sides of my mouth curve. “Yeah, it really is. I’ve never really thought about teaching, but I think it could be awesome.”
His hand tightens around mine for a second. “Don’t take it just because it’s here.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
“Take a job because it’s what you really want,” Miles says, snuggling in a closer to my back.
“You deserve the best,” Owen says, resting his forehead against mine.
“Good thing I have you guys, then.”
And it’s true. They are the best damn thing that has ever happened to me. The love I have for all of them is the most all-consuming and beautiful thing I’ve ever experienced.
I can only imagine how that love will feel in a year… five years… ten… twenty.
I drift off to images of what life will look like, what our love will grow into through all the ups and downs I’m sure life has to offer us. Because I know with every fiber of my being that these men are my forever.
I didn’t know if I would ever feel like I had a real family again after my dad passed, but my guys and Lyla have become my family—my everything.